Vehicle Lightweight Structures and Joining Laboratory

Research

The focus research areas of the Vehicle Lightweight Structures and Joining (VLSJ) Laboratory, led by Dr. Ermias Koricho, are: Vehicle Design and Safety, Advanced Lightweight Materials, Advanced Multi-Material Joining, and Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) techniques. The research is conducted by both undergraduate and graduate students.

Please use the expandable menus below for more information on the various research areas of interest in the Computational Optimization Laboratory:

Vehicle Lightweight Design and Safety

While dealing with material replacement, safety levels of occupants, pedestrians, cyclists and urban infrastructure in crashes mainly depend on the structural behavior of the front and rear structures of the vehicle, in combination with the rest of the frame: front/rear bumpers, hood, sides, floor panels, pillars, etc. The crashworthiness analysis of vehicle structure using advanced numerical techniques and innovative lightweight materials will be dealt with robust and innovative approaches.

Advanced Lightweight and Tailorable Materials

This research activity focusing on developing physical based modeling and simulation strategy for novel lightweight materials and the resulting structures. The novelty of the research activity is the implementing mechanism of novel lightweight materials (e.g., metallic alloys, foams, composites, and polymeric materials) and tailored materials in vehicle and engineering applications based on multidisciplinary approach: it covers material development and characterization, material performance optimization, materials interactions, interface design and perform parametric study to identify the factors that affect their performance.

Advanced Multi-Material Joining

This research activity mainly focuses on tailorable self-sensing “active” adhesives and hybrid joining systems for use in the joining of similar and dissimilar materials in vehicle application. Related topics such as material selection, interface interaction, interaction of active materials with electromagnetic field, self-sensing joints, and influence of environmental and mechanical loadings on the performance of the resulting joints will be studied to develop experimentally validated numerical models.

Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) Techniques

In vehicle lightweight structures and joining lab various None-destructive Evaluation (NDE) and Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) techniques are being used to provide robust and cross-validated measurements. To perform cutting-edge researches and reliable experimental activities and NDE tests, the group has also established collaborations with academic institutes and industries across the globe. One the technique that are currently being used by to group to evaluate the damage extent of composite structures is optical transmission scanning (OTS).